Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes With Dies Challenge - April 2021...

Hi! I am so happy to be back with the inspiration for the month of April for the HLS challenges. 

This is a very special month for me as my mom, hubby and son all have birthdays in April. My card today is for my son, who turns 9. 

I used the Ice Cream Cone Parade die by Simon Says Stamp, which has been in my stash for a long time. I die-cut snippets of watercolored paper and arranged them in the rainbow order. The sentiment is from the Sweet Cakes stamp set, also by Simon Says Stamp.

Here is another look at the card.

I hope my card inspires you to create something beautiful. You can visit the Happy Little Stampers challenge blog for more inspiration and link your creations. I look forward to visiting you in our gallery.

Entering my card in the following challenges:

NBUS Challenge #25:
The Ice Cream Cone Parade die set has been in my stash for a long time. I used it for the first time.

AAA Cards - Game #187:

HLS April Watercolor Challenge:

Love,
Nandini

Happy Little Stampers Stencil Challenge - April 2021...

Hi! Welcome to the April edition of the Happy Little Stampers Stencil challenge. 

I created a quick card today with the new slimline layering stencils by CrafTreat. 

I took a piece of handmade paper and attached the first stencil from the Anemone set to it. This layer has leaves and used two shades of green distress inks to color them. The second layer has flowers and buds. I used distress inks in shades of pink, orange, coral and yellow this time. Both times I used finger daubers to apply the ink. Here is a close-up of the inking.

The sentiment is from the Sentiments I - Celebrations stamp & die set by Elizabeth Designs.

I just trimmed the inked panel, rounded the corners and adhered it to the card base. I added the other elements and finished the card. Here is another look at the completed card.

I hope you are inspired by my card. Please do visit the Happy Little Stampers blog for more, amazing inspiration by the DT. We look forward to seeing your creatins in our gallery!

Entering my card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes:

STAMPlorations April Stencil Challenge:

Use Your Stuff #419 - Mood Board:

I was inspired by the colors. 

NBUS Challenge #25:

The Sentiments I - Celebrations stamp & die set by Elizabeth Designs has been in my stash for a long time (atleast 3-4 years). The Anemone slimline layering stencils by CrafTreat are brand new. I used both for the first time.

Make My Monday Challenge #145 - Easter/Spring Card:

Love,

Nandini

Altenew Educators "Favorite Old/New Altenew Stamp" Blog Hop and Linky Party + Giveaway

Hi! Welcome to the latest blog hop by the Altenew Educators. You should have arrived here from the super talented Pam Boedeker. I am a huge fan of her beautiful work!

I have been a regular participant in the Altenew Educator blog hops since I completed my Altenew Educator certification in March 2018. I love the interesting themes that the Altenew team comes up with. And the inspiration from my fellow Educators is always amazing! The whole educator family is so warm and encouraging and talented. I feel very privileged to be a part of this group of very special people.

Selecting a single favorite stamp set from my Altenew stash is an impossible task! I have been a huge fan of Altenew right from the time they launched and I have several sets that I have used numerous times. I finally decided on the Painted Flowers set as it is one of the oldest that I have. And I still often reach for it. 

Here are some of my favorite projects created using this beautiful stamp set. You can click on the images for more details.

 

  

I created two cards using two different techniques.

Though the Painted Flowers is a layering set, I also love using only the outline images. Since the style of the set is very artsy, the outlines look very sketchy when stamped alone. The card design is actually based on a set of coasters that I made some time ago. You can find the original post here.

To create the color blocking, I simply drew lines with a pencil on a panel of paper.

I used chalk paints in orange, pink, and teal to paint the background. You can use any kind to paint to do this. Once the paint was dry, I blocked off the orange areas with strips of masking paper and stamped the outlines with black ink. Here is a close-up of the stamping.

I used a small hack to paint the copper lines between the color blocks. To get the lines even, I placed a stencil with a long slit over the paper and painted with a flat brush. You can do this with a marker too, and get lovely, even lines.

The sentiment is from the Leaf Canopy stamp set and I heat embossed it with black EP for added definition.

Here is another look at the card.

 I followed the same process for the second card.

I masked off areas and used distress oxide inks for coloring instead of chalk paints. The shades I used were Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers, and Picked Raspberry.

The sentiment is from the Sweetest Peas stamp set. 

Here is another look at the card.

And here are both the cards together.

I hope you liked my cards and find them inspiring. I would love to know your thoughts on this. 

No Altenew blog is complete without some amazing prizes!

Prizes:

Altenew is giving away a $20 gift certificate to 5 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog by 4/4/2021 for a chance to win. 

We’ll also draw a winner to receive a $15 Altenew gift certificate from the comments left on each designer’s blog on the blog hop list below. All winners will be announced on the Altenew Winners Page on 4/6/2021.

 There’s MORE! What’s a hop without YOU?! We have included an Inlinkz at the Altenew blog for you to enter your gorgeous Altenew “Old/New Favorite Altenew Stamp” creations. We will pick 2 of our favorite handmade creations from those who joined the linky party and they will each receive a $15 Altenew gift certificate!

 

The next person on the hop is Amy Hill. She is such an amazing crafter! I am a big fan of her work! Here is the complete list in case you want to go back to the beginning or missed someone.

Hop list:

Altenew Card Blog

Bridget Casey

Colleen Balija 

Teresa Litchfield

Katrina Howe

Rosie Neustaedter

Terri Marie Koszler

Tenia Nelson

Pam Boedeker

Nandini Karmarkar - You are here!

Amy Hill

Irina Fonina

Natasha Davies

Karen Brown

Helen Kalb

Patty Mello

Roteja Galvan

Eva Bussom

Fiona Duff

Jaycee Gaspar

Vicki Finger

Nenette S. Madero

Teri Wilson

Rachael Shedeed

Neha Aggarwal

Kari VanNoy

Teri Stokes

Amber Rain Davis

Virginia Lu

Sandra Woodson

Love,

Nandini

Altenew Celebrating Parents Card Drive Blog Hop + Giveaway

Welcome to the annual Celebrating Parents Card Drive Blog Hop and Giveaway, hosted by Altenew. I am honoured to be a part of this great initiative. Our goal is to send cards for the elderly that live in nursing homes or shelters to let them know they’re not forgotten. Please encourage people to check out the Celebrating Parents Card Drive and join this great cause by sending in cards.

You must have arrived here from the blog of Linda Westfall. In case you want to start at the beginning, I have included the whole list at the end of this post.

I created two cards for this hop, both using the same supplies.

I used the Beautiful Day stamp and die set for the flowers. The flowers were stamped with black ink and then colored with Zig Real Brush Markers and alcohol inks.

The sentiments are also from the Beautiful Day stamp set and stamped with black ink.

The foliage was die-cut using the leaves from the Floral Fantasy 3D die set.

I used some scraps of handmade paper for matting as well as the leaves for both the cards.

I also did some stenciling using the Sunburst stencil and silver pigment ink on the base.

I just changed the arrangement of the flowers to create different looks.

I arranged the flowers in a pleasing arrangement and then popped them up with some foam tape.

To finish, I added white pearls to the centers.

Here is another look at both the cards together.

No Altenew blog hop is complete without some great prizes!

Giveaway Prizes

$200 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 2 lucky winners and a $20 gift certificate to 5 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 03/31/2021 for a chance to win. 

 

Altenew will draw 7 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 04/2/2021.

We have chosen a few Altenew products that are great for your Mother’s Day and Father’s Day cards (and other year-round projects)!

• Simply the Best Stamp Set

• World's Best Dad Stamp Set

• Thanks, Dad Stamp Set

• Thanks Around the World Stamp Set

• Courageous You Stamp Set

• Arabesque Medallion Stamp Set

• Extra Special Stamp Set

• Precious Moments Stamp Set

Altenew will donate $1 with every order of the above stamp sets from 3/6/2021 until 5/31/2021 to the Food Bank of Central New York to support seniors in need.

Blog Hop Order

The next person on the hop is the amazing Natasha Davies. In case you are lost or want to start at the beginning, here is the whole list!

Altenew Card Blog

Nathalie DeSousa

Tenia Nelson

Virginia Lu

Alex Syberia

Carol Hintermeier

Cheryl Espie

Dana Joy

Eva Bussom

Helen Kalb

Hussena Calcuttawala 

Jenny Colacicco

Joylita Dsouza

Kelly Griglione

Linda Westfall

Nandini Karmarkar - You are here!

Natasha Davies

Preeti Chandran

Sandhya Iyer

Seeka

TaeEun Yoo

Terri Koszler

Bridget Casey

LauraJane

Love,

Nandini

Happy Little Stampers March Challenge...

Hi! I am so happy to be back with the inspiration for the month of March for the HLS challenges. 

My card today is a quick one, made with some distress inks and a super intricate die by Pinkfresh Studios.

I started with some ivory paper and simply swiped distress inks diagonally across the surface. I used a damp brush to blend the colors a bit and then dried the paper with my heat gun. Once the die-cutting was done, I adhered it to a dark brown card base.

Here is another look at the card.

I hope my cards inspire you to create something beautiful. You can visit the Happy Little Stampers challenge blog for more inspiration and link your creations. I look forward to visiting you in our gallery.

Love,
Nandini